Rishi Sunak silent over Tory MPs’ Partygate report attacks

Rishi Sunak has refused to say whether Tory MPs accused of undermining the Commons Partygate inquiry into Boris Johnson should apologise.

The Privileges Committee said last week that the MPs, including Nadine Dorries and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, had tried to “interfere” with the probe.

Asked whether they should say sorry, the prime minister didn’t say, adding he hadn’t read the committee’s report.

MPs will decide whether to approve the findings at a debate next Monday.

Last month, the Commons backed the committee’s finding, in a separate report, that Mr Johnson misled Parliament over Covid rule-breaking in No 10.

Mr Sunak has never said whether he agrees with the findings of that report – and missed last month’s vote to approve it, blaming a diary clash.

The follow-up report by the Privileges Committee, published last week, said several allies of Mr Johnson had sought to “influence the outcome” of its original probe into the former prime minister.

It accused the seven MPs and three peers, all Conservatives, of mounting attacks on the committee designed to “discredit” its findings.

The report has led to a free speech row, with several of those named, including Ms Dorries and Sir Jacob, saying there is no reason they should not be able to criticise its conclusions.

At a scheduled appearance at the Commons Liaison Committee, Mr Sunak did not respond to a question from Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant about whether the MPs named should apologise.

Instead, he said he had not read the report – which runs to a handful of pages – from “cover to cover,” although he was aware of its findings.

He confirmed he had asked Lord Zac Goldsmith, one of the Tory peers named in the report, to apologise – but said this was because of his then role as an environment minister.

Lord Goldsmith quit his government post last week, citing unhappiness with green policies. He has denied a claim from Mr Sunak that he had refused to apologise over being named in the report.

Sir Chris, who chairs the Privileges Committee but did not take part in its probe into Mr Johnson because he had criticised him before it began, also criticised Mr Sunak for missing the Commons vote on its findings.

The prime minister replied he couldn’t attend because he was scheduled to speak at a charity event, but the Labour MP accused him of choosing “not be in Parliament”.

“But yesterday, you opined on the rule of cricket. Take us through that,” he added, in an apparent reference to Mr Sunak’s criticism of the Australia team on Monday.

In a series of testy exchanges, he also took a swipe at Mr Sunak’s attendance record in Parliament, noting that he is scheduled to miss the next two sessions of Prime Minister’s Questions.

Mr Sunak replied he will miss this week’s session because he is attending an event marking the 75th anniversary of the NHS, whilst next week he is at a summit of Nato leaders in Lithuania.

He denied that he had any control over the timing of the NHS event, telling Sir Chris “I did not decide when that was.”